[higginsdj]

Do objects uncovered by photometric means (eclipsing events) really exist (or uncovered by any menas other than direct imaging)?

There are Binary Stars, Exoplanets and Minor Planet Satellites all 'discovered' by the existance of eclisping events in observed lightcurves and other methods that do not involve direct imaging. But does this mean that the object actually exists?

Views of professional astronomers appear rather polarised - specifically in the planetary sciences (Minor Planet Satellites). The MPC and CBAT are of the view that a satellite does not exist unless it has been directly observed (but the CBAT is happy to publish a CBET to say that the 'binary nature has been uncovered' and to provide system parameters! Those professionals acutally involved in the research, however, are of the view that satellites have actually been discovered.

Is this the same view/dicotomy held in the other fields (Binary Stars and Exoplanets)?

Cheers